


snowdrops

by drinkofwourder



Category: Bon Appétit Test Kitchen RPF, Chef RPF
Genre: Braffitz Secret Santa 2019, F/M, Huddling For Warmth, Love Confessions, Secret Santa, Snow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-30
Updated: 2019-12-30
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:57:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22037035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/drinkofwourder/pseuds/drinkofwourder
Summary: the snowpocalypse was probably bullshit, right?or how claire learned to stop worrying and fall in love right there on the street corner
Relationships: Brad Leone/Claire Saffitz
Comments: 4
Kudos: 44





	snowdrops

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thebaddestwolf](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thebaddestwolf/gifts).

> I had the pleasure of writing this for one of my favorite writers in the fandom! I hope you like it, baddestwolf!
> 
> I'm posting it a day early because I'm going out of town for a few days, starting tomorrow.
> 
> The snowdrop flower is a pretty white flower that's always the first to grow, often shooting up past ice and snow. It means rebirth and hope, and I thought it was apt for this fic!
> 
> Obligatory RPF warnings apply, don't go spreading this around, it's just fiction, etc etc.
> 
> Enjoy!

It wasn’t as if she hadn’t heard the weather report, no matter how hard Brad had insisted that she had managed to miss it when she came into the Test Kitchen, iced coffee in hand. She had the weather app on her phone that had been blowing her phone up all week, and she had him always talking her ear off about the upcoming “snowpocalypse” as he had referred to it. 

He was acting like it was the end of days, just as the weather channel had, but Claire had her doubts that they were even right. Half the time that they acted like the storm would bring the city to a halt, they had been wrong and New York City had escaped with just a light dusting or a few strong gusts of wind that rattled the building. In fact, Claire was banking on the fact that they had blown it all out of proportion and that she wouldn’t need to leave early, that she wouldn’t have to return home to her empty apartment.

It was looking like she had been right, the streets devoid of snow even at noon. Still, her co-workers filtered out the moment the clocks hit twelve, a steady stream of excuses and disappearances. The sky wasn’t even completely covered, even as the heavy gray clouds started to roll in. Even if it did snow, she figured that she had plenty of time to get out and get home safely, not even having to change her plans on how to get home.

The biggest surprise was Delany, who rarely let anything bother him, pacing around the kitchen with eyes cast towards the windows. He hadn’t even taken off his heavy designer coat, arms wrapping it around his body like he was ready to head out at a moment’s notice. The cool exterior he usually put out, cracked from the threat of a few snowflakes. Claire knew that, if Brad wasn’t the number one snowpocalypse prepper in the entire kitchen, he’d be getting just as big of a kick out of Delany’s nerves as she was. Yet he was pacing right next to Delany, muttering about the storm right along with him.

She heard Brad tell him the best route to get home under murmured breaths, his nerves spreading to the usually calm and collected Alex Delany. He had given her a terse smile when she had asked him if he was all right, trying and failing to crack a joke, cringing at the sound of his own voice. It almost made her feel like the odd man out, the only one not worried to the bone about the weather.

The moment the clock hit noon, when the email from Conde Nast had told them they were allowed to leave, Delany was a cloud of dust in the Test Kitchen. Yet Brad stayed behind. Even as the others filtered out at a minute or two past noon, he sent them off with a wave while telling them to be careful. He wasn’t even working on anything, puttering around the test kitchen and pretending like his eyes weren’t firmly on Claire.

“Why do you keep staring at me, Brad?” She asked before she could stop herself, cheeks flushing slightly.  
“Uhh...well, y’see, Claire, I,” He said, the words coming out all at once, “I’m just. Uh. Worried about you?”

It was phrased like a question, like it was something he was just testing out. But that was what they did around each other, they tested, like something would break if pushed too hard. Instead of breaking, Claire let out an easy laugh because she wasn’t about to let herself start seeing things between them based off of some looks and the tone of his voice.

“About the snow?”  
“Yeah, Claire. The snow. Supposed to be a rager out there, Saffitz, don’t want you gettin’ stuck here an’ all.”

She huffed out a laugh, leaning against the bench.

“Brad. I’m a big girl, I’ll be fine.”  
“Aw, Claire, you know I know that. I’m worried about everyone, do you even have a way to get back?”  
“The subway, as usual.”

Brad rolled his eyes at that, tossing his hands up in the air.

“You know that they’re gonna be at a standstill with all this snow and shit, do you have a ride home?”  
“No.”  
“No? What about that guy you were seein’, British guy. Galvin?” Brad said, and it was Claire’s turn to roll her eyes.

She had only gone a few dates with Gavin before they decided it wasn’t working and she didn’t even know how Brad had found out, but it probably had something to do with telling Molly about him after a pretty successful first date. But he had found out despite not having told him, bringing him up and getting his rather simple name wrong every time. If Claire didn’t know better, she’d think that Brad was jealous, but she pushed that thought away as quickly as it had come.

“You mean Gavin? We went on three dates and called it quits, that’s hardly seeing someone, Brad.”  
“Well, he probably wouldn’t have picked you up anyway, I could see it in his beady little British eyes.”  
“You never even met him.” Claire scoffed, turning back to the work that she was only half paying attention to.

Brad made a series of noises from his spot, like he was trying to come up with a come back about the guy she hadn’t even done anything more than kiss at the door when he walked her home that one time.

It had been Gavin who had broken it off with her, or more or less decided that he didn’t really want to see her again. He had his reasons and Claire respected them, true or not, because Gavin had said that he had seen her videos and didn’t want to get in the way of something that he hadn’t really been clear about. He had probably thought he was being diplomatic, maybe it had something to do with her career, but he had no right to make the decision for her about whether or not she could juggle a career and a relationship. But she wasn’t about to fight for a guy out of spite, so she let him go with his assumptions.

She really wasn’t broken up about it, she had liked Gavin alright but it wasn’t anywhere near serious. Still, there was something about the way he phrased it that nagged at the back of her mind. The itch she couldn’t scratch, laid on by the tone of his voice.

Deep in her English-accented thoughts, she hadn’t realized that it had started to snow until Brad’s voice cut through her inner monologue like a knife, making her gasp softly.

“C’mon Claire, we gotta go before it gets worse, wrap it up!” He said, clapping his hands and making her flinch with each sound.  
“Wait, we?”  
“Yeah, ‘we’, I’m not letting you loose to wander around the city in the storm. We’ll grab one of them Uber Lyfts and then I’ll make it to the Ferry just in time to catch the last one out of the city.”

And, before she could even begin to protest, Brad was shoving her purse and coat into her hands and leading her out of the building with a hand on the small of her back to wait for the car to pull up. She could feel the heat of his hand on her even through the layers, breath coming out in puffs as she practically panted from it. It wasn’t right that just an innocent hand on her was making her squirm, but it was _Brad_ and she couldn’t help but get caught up in the moment.

After she and Gavin mutually decided to not see each other again, Claire had...opened her mind. Just a little bit, just enough to let these traitorous thoughts about Brad Leone seep in like a soaked glove left in a puddle. And it wasn’t helping that he had led her out of the building already, yet kept his hand on her. She worried that, when she looked into the mirror, she’d have a burn the size and shape of his huge hand on her body for all eternity, a brand of the way she couldn’t help but feel.

On that street corner, outside of the building as the snow started to whip up around them, she finally admitted it to herself. What she knew Gavin was really talking about when he decided that she wasn’t worth the heartbreak.

That she had fallen in love with Brad Leone, irrevocably and obviously. Obvious enough that someone she hadn’t even started to date could see it after having watched two videos with the two of them in it.

Looking up at him, hand still hot on the small of her back, she allowed herself to really, really feel it. She was so in love with him that it was actually starting to hurt, like all those cliches and the cold wind nipping at her cheeks. And he was smiling down at her, radiant and warm, blue eyes staring her down.

And she thought that it might just kill her, the terse smile falling from her face, making Brad frown in turn. It hurt to see him smile, but it hurt to see him frown too, and Claire realized that she simultaneously had no idea and every idea of what she wanted.

She wanted Brad. She just didn’t want the hurt that could come with it, the pain of throwing everything away on a whim. That wasn’t her and she had a feeling that they both knew it, in that moment, waiting for their Uber that had seemingly gotten lost in New York’s gridded maze of streets. The city drawn to a halt, like her heart in her chest as Brad stared down at her.

“What’s the matter, Claire?” He asked, voice too gentle.

And she didn’t know how to answer him, she never really did, but the grin was returning to his face and he barked out a laugh.

“Ah, you must be freezing in that thin-ass jacket of yours! C’mere, I’ll keep you warm.”

Before she could stop it, Brad was drawing her in and tucking her into the inside of his jacket. Warmth flooded her body and she knew it wasn’t just from the shared body heat.

“Woof, you’re freezing! Why didn’t you tell me, we can be like penguins, Claire!”  
“W-We..you don’t have to, I-I was fine!”  
“Aw, nonsense, Claire! I don’t mind it one bit.” He said, voice warming her as much as his body was.

He was just being friendly ole Brad Leone, and she knew that she shouldn’t get her hopes up. But he was looking down at her like she was the most precious cargo in all of the city. She buried her face in his chest before she could stop herself, inhaling the scent of burning wood that followed him around and sighing softly.

“Thank you, Brad.” She murmured, sighing again at the feeling of his chest rumbling with his words  
“Of course, Claire...”  
“You would’ve done it for anyone, right?”

Claire didn’t know why she said it, maybe it was an out for her or for him. Because his hands had drifted lower, cupping her hip with his huge hand, and she wanted him to know that it was okay to not feel anything other than friendship for her. That he didn’t have to hold her just to make her feel better, that he didn’t have to set himself on fire just to keep her warm.

She felt him laughing before she heard it, his loud bark of laughter filling the silent streets of the snowy city.

“Fuck no, Claire.”  
“No?”  
“Christ, you really don’t get it…” He sighed out, free hand coming down and tilting her chin up.

His eyes were hooded and darkened, and he looked almost weary. But she could see it in the twist of his lips, the half grin on his face. She had been fooling around with all the wrong men to try and chase away the real feelings she felt for Brad, and all the games they played were finally being put to rest.

There, on a street corner, huddled together for warmth like fucking penguins, she finally admitted to herself that Brad Leone was just in love with her as she was with him.

And then he was kissing her just as their Uber pulled up, stooping at an odd angle just as she pushed up onto her toes to meet him. It was awkward and perfect, the sound of the wind and the driver honking his horn obsessively. They kissed until he leaned out his window, yelling at them to stop “feelin’ each other up” before he left, until they both figured that they probably didn’t want to be left there by an irate Uber driver.

They pulled back and Brad sent her a grin that made her weak at the knees, pulling her forward to follow him into the Uber. And she realized that she would follow him anywhere, not even batting an eye as he gave the driver the address to her apartment.

“Brad?” She murmured, leaning against him despite the seatbelts.  
“Yeah?”  
“I think you should miss your ferry.”

And he laughed, leaning in to kiss her again, chaste in the face of their already pissed Uber driver.

“I already did.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, you can find me on tumblr at [ drinkofwourder ](https://drinkofwourder.tumblr.com/)!


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